West megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years

The Associated Press ^ | February 15, 2022 | By SETH BORENSTEIN (D-AP)

[Oldeconomybuyer]

The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest in at least 1,200 years and is a worst-case climate change scenario playing out live, a new study finds.

A dramatic drying in 2021 — about as dry as 2002 and one of the driest years ever recorded for the region — pushed the 22-year drought past the previous record-holder for megadroughts in the late 1500s and shows no signs of easing in the near future, according to a study Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change.

“Climate change is changing the baseline conditions toward a drier, gradually drier state in the West and that means the worst-case scenario keeps getting worse,” said study lead author Park Williams, a climate hydrologist at UCLA. “This is right in line with what people were thinking of in the 1900s as a worst-case scenario. But today I think we need to be even preparing for conditions in the future that are far worse than this.”

Williams used 29 models to create a hypothetical world with no human-caused warming then compared it to what happened in real life — the scientifically accepted way to check if an extreme weather event is due to climate change.

[SimpleJack]

I’ve always wondered how a fast growing place like the Phoenix area could survive a long term drought. I believe they are getting their water from Lake Mead.

[EC Washington]

Gavin Newsom, the smartest Governor in the US has banned all use of Ocean water in California.

Israel offered to show Gavin how to produce cheap clean water with their desalination operations. Gavin refused the help - he rather have a historic drought.

[Vigilanteman]

. . . making aforementioned junipers young whippersnappers by comparison.

My point, of course, being that going back 1200 years wasn't a problem to check tree rings.

I believe scientists use a hollow bore of less than 1/4" diameter and inject the tree with its own resent to heal the bore when finished.

[hinckley buzzard]

The drought that forced the Anasazi to migrate away from their cliff dwellings was about a 200 year drought beginning around 1250 - 1300 AD, possibly harbinger of The Little Ice Age recorded in Europe beginning around the same time. Far from 1200 years ago. Seth Borenstein does his usual parrot act, without knowing what he is parroting.

[IYAS9YAS]

As long as the phrase “climate change” is in the first sentence, we have an award winning article./s

Climate Change is being dropped and Climate Emergency is the new flavor of the day.

[volunbeer]

Just ignore the record snowpacks in the mountains.

---

Yep. I was flabbergasted to read this. I believe are well above average in the mountains and even the Sierra-Nevada range?

What am I missing here?

https://www.kcra.com/article/california-snowpack-drought-snow-survey-phillips-station/38642460

You can find similar articles for the last two years for the Cascades (Washington), Oregon, and most importantly for the Northwest the Canadian Rockies. You also find a lot of articles talking about 50 years from now there will be no snow......

This is from the same people who told us 30 years ago that the beaches would be under water today and there would be no snow.

Who to believe......

[bray]

these are the same people who cannot cure a simple virus and claim they can control the weather.

[Openurmind]

I understood your point with the ring aging. Was supporting the concept. :)

We had a couple of our trees on the Az mountain property bored by a tree doctor. They are all looking pretty sickly. I thought it was because of drought and lack of rain. Turns out they are getting plenty of water it is actually because of carbon dioxide deprivation.

[Vigilanteman]

Interesting . . . sort of supports what I learned in 5th grade biology-- carbon dioxide is plant food, not a dangerous greenhouse gas.

Do they teach that anymore?

[libh8er]

One of the remedies I have read is to build water pipelines to transport water from states that have water to states that don’t. Now that is such a novel idea. Why wasn’t this thought of or put into practice before ? Water pipelines. Not oil pipelines. Brilliant.

[faucetman]

“human-caused climate change”

THERE CAN BE NO SUCH THING!

The Erff is YUGE! Humans are puny. There is no way we can affect “global” weather or anything close. Only “LOCAL” climate can be affected. Yet our human footprint is so SMALL that it doesn’t matter.

“The correct figure for the percentage of the earth’s land mass which is actually occupied by humans is .03%. This includes the land occupied by cities, towns, and commercial enterprises. So this means that out of 1000 units of land, we occupy three. The zealots included land which is being farmed and forested, but this land is not subject to any kind of contamination. So, like it or not, we humans are insignificant in the real workings of the earth, but we are an egocentric species, who overstate our importance.” (comment) LAND not including oceans.

“artificial surfaces (which cover 0.6 percent of the Earth’s surface)”

https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/216144/icode/

Globull warming and overpopulation are Liberal wet dreams.

They are just NOT TRUE!

FEAR PORN!

[CapnJack]

From the article:

“The study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change.”

The link in the article at the end of the above sentence brings you to nothing. No source for this socalled “study”, as usual.

You are expected to just believe them.

All BS.

[Nifster]

They are called the high desert plains for a reason

[BiglyCommentary]

“driest in at least 1,200 years “

There’s got opportunity in something so extreme. If anyone’s interested I can ship water for $99/oz with free 2 day shipping. Email for quotes on gallon quantities.

[Harpotoo]

Burn Cali Burn!

God Hates you!

[Pollard]

There were megadroughts in what is now the central and western United States, between 900 and 1300.[23] A megadrought struck what is now the American Southwest 1276–1299 C.E., which severely affected the Pueblo cities,[24][25] and tree rings also document drought in the lower and central Mississippi River basin between the 14th and 16th century.

Wow, this climate change has been going on forever. /s

[DesertRhino]

I was not aware that Injuns kept such accurate weather records 1200 years ago.

[Pollard]

A megadrought (or mega-drought) is a prolonged drought lasting two decades or longer. Past megadroughts have been associated with persistent multiyear La Niña conditions (cooler than normal water temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean).[1]

The term megadrought is generally used to describe the length of a drought, and not its acute intensity. In scientific literature, the term is used to describe decades-long droughts or multi-decadal droughts. Multiyear droughts of less than a decade, such as the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s, are generally not described as megadroughts even though they are of a long duration. In popular literature multiyear or even single year droughts are occasionally described as megadroughts based upon their severity, the economic damage they inflict or other criteria, but this is the exception and not the rule.

[Secret Agent Man]

I reject the premise that their 29 climate computer models are accurate and sound.

[dfwgator]

I was not aware that Injuns kept such accurate weather records 1200 years ago.